Renting a car abroad

We don’t always go abroad with a car. It happens more often that we get on place by plane and already there we rent a car. How much will it cost, when we decide to rent a vehicle abroad? What you should know before signing a contract?

Portal WP.pl has recently published a ranking of the tourists’ popular destinations, where the costs of renting a car are the lowest. They took into account renting a car for 7 days with a basic package of insurance, navigation, and a fee for the opportunity to drive the car by two people. The costs also included 40 liters of petrol.

How much for renting a car abroad?

The ranking shows that in this respect the cheapest is Cyprus, where for a week of traveling by car we’ll pay 1,528 PLN (Approx. 370 EUR). On the end of the list is Mallorca with the cost of 2,672 PLN (650 EUR).

However, the opinions appeared immediately, telling that the costs provided by the portal have been greatly overstated and are probably related to airport rentals and also include SUVs and vans, which inflate the average. As declared by the users themselves, the weekly cost of renting a middle-class car amounts approximately 1,000-1,200 PLN (250-290 EUR). Of course a lot depends on what car they rent and where they rent it. Sometimes you can even rent a small car for 500 PLN (125 EUR) per week (but without fuel and surcharges).

You can find a rental directly on site, for example, near the airport, but it would be best to check the offers before departure. As in the case of tourist, accommodation and flight offers, also in relation to the car rentals you can use Internet booking systems. Thanks to this you can search through a number of offers in one place and rent a particular model of car before the planned trip.

What’s important when renting a car abroad?

When calculating the costs, it’s worth paying attention to possible restrictions and surcharges. Sometimes, the age of the driver must fit within certain limits, for example between 25 and 75 years. Younger or older age may either make impossible to rent a car, or require a payment of an additional charge.

Surcharges may also be necessary if we’ll ask for a car seat or other additives. You should also pay attention to the limit of kilometers (if you exceed it you’ll have to pay extra), the rules of accounting fuel (usually it’s necessary to tank full when returning the car, but sometimes there’re exemptions to the rule) and check, whether the car needs washing before returning.

If we want to pick up the car in one city and return in another, it may also involve some additional charges. If we want to return the car during the weekend, see if the car rental is open then and during which hours.

A very important issue is the scope of insurance linked to the car, so what damage or defect will be covered by it. The better the insurance, the higher costs of renting.

Deposit - be careful

Renting a car usually requires paying a deposit, which can be taken in cash, but in rental networks, it’s usually ​​in the form of blocking an appropriate amount on the credit card.

There’re situations when after returning to the country, the blocked amount is taken to cover the alleged damage, which in fact wasn’t even done. This is the most common unfair practice of foreign rentals. To protect against it, you should carefully read the contract and keep the copy. Some also recommend to take pictures of the vehicle before you rent it, and then shortly after its returning. This will provide us with the appropriate arguments during a possible legal battle with the rental.

Usually, however, there’s nothing to fear. Renting a car on the spot is a convenient solution and will allow you to explore interesting places without the necessity to use the local public transport. Renting a car abroad usually turns out to be simpler, more convenient and less stressful for tourists.